The present disclosure generally relates to methods for additive manufacturing (AM) that utilize supports in the process of building a component, as well as reusable supporting platforms utilized within AM processes.
Components or parts for various machines and mechanical systems may be built using AM systems. AM systems may build such components by continuously layering powder material in predetermined areas and performing a material transformation process, such as sintering or melting, on the powder material. The material transformation process may alter the physical state of the powder material from a granular composition to a solid material to build the component. The components built using the additive manufacturing systems have nearly identical physical attributes as conventional components typically made by performing machining processes on stock material.
Conventional additive manufacturing systems build these components on large, solid build plates. These conventional build plates are often made of one to two inches of solid metal, for example stainless steel. It is also conventional to AM disposable supports on the build plate upon which the component may be formed. The disposable supports provide separation of the component from the build plate and are entirely sacrificed and/or removed during removal of the component from the build plate, simplifying removal. Once removed, the disposable supports may not be reused by the build plates and may be discarded or scrapped. With increasing component complexity and more demanding alloys, the supports are also known to include structures for various secondary functions. For example, the supports may include structures or a surface to prevent dislocation of the component from the supports during additive manufacturing of the component. Aside from being heavy, cumbersome and expensive to initially manufacture, additional costs are typically associated with the use of conventional build plates and supports by the additive manufacturing systems. For example, after a component is built on and removed from the conventional build plate by entirely sacrificing the disposable supports, the build plate must undergo additional processing, and the supports must be rebuilt. First, the build plate, including the remnants of the supports, must be machined (e.g., resurfaced, planed, milled and the like) before being utilized again by the additive manufacturing system to build another set of supports and another component. The required machining after every component build is expensive and typically requires the build plate to be sent away, which can affect the production time of components when only one or a few build plates are accessible to be used by the additive manufacturing system. Additionally, every time the build plate is machined, the operational life of the build plate is decreased, and the build plate will eventually need to be replaced. Second, the supports must be rebuilt, which further affects the production time of components and increases the cost of producing the components, especially where the supports include complex structures or geometries with secondary functions.